Today in History

Today is Saturday, Oct. 8, the 281st day of 2022. There are 84 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Oct. 8, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire erupted; fires also broke out in Peshtigo, Wisconsin, and in several communities in Michigan.

On this date:

In 1914, the World War I song "Keep the Home Fires Burning," by Ivor Novello and Lena Guilbert Ford, was first published in London under the title "'Till the Boys Come Home."

In 1945, President Harry S. Truman told a press conference in Tiptonville, Tennessee, that the secret scientific knowledge behind the atomic bomb would be shared only with Britain and Canada.

In 1956, Don Larsen pitched the only perfect game in a World Series to date as the New York Yankees beat the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 5, 2-0.

In 1982, all labor organizations in Poland, including Solidarity, were banned.

In 1985, the hijackers of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro killed American passenger Leon Klinghoffer, who was in a wheelchair, and threw his body overboard.

In 1997, scientists reported the Mars Pathfinder had yielded what could be the strongest evidence yet that Mars might once have been hospitable to life.

In 1998, the House triggered an open-ended impeachment inquiry against President Bill Clinton in a momentous 258-176 vote; 31 Democrats joined majority Republicans in opening the way for nationally televised impeachment hearings.

In 2002, a federal judge approved President George W. Bush's request to reopen West Coast ports, ending a 10-day labor lockout that was costing the U.S. economy an estimated $1 to $2 billion a day.

In 2005, a magnitude 7.6 earthquake flattened villages on the Pakistan-India border, killing an estimated 86,000 people.

In 2010, British aid worker Linda Norgrove, who'd been taken captive in Afghanistan, was killed during a U.S. special forces rescue attempt, apparently by a U.S. grenade.

In 2016, Donald Trump vowed on Twitter to continue his campaign; many Republicans were calling on Trump to abandon his presidential bid in the wake of the release of a 2005 video in which he made lewd remarks about women and appeared to condone sexual assault.

In 2020, authorities in Michigan said six men had been charged with conspiring to kidnap Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in reaction to what they viewed as her "uncontrolled power." (Two of the six pleaded guilty, two others were acquitted and the remaining two were convicted at a retrial in August 2022.) Democrat Joe Biden said President Donald Trump's tweet earlier in the year to "LIBERATE MICHIGAN" may have encouraged the alleged kidnapping plot.

Ten years ago: President Barack Obama designated the Keene, California, home of Cesar Chavez, the late founder of the United Farmworkers Union, as a national monument.

Five years ago: Harvey Weinstein was fired from The Weinstein Company amid allegations that he was responsible for decades of sexual harassment against female actors and employees. Vice President Mike Pence left the 49ers-Colts game in Indianapolis after about a dozen San Francisco players took a knee during the national anthem; Pence tweeted that he wouldn't "dignify any event that disrespects our soldiers, our Flag or our National Anthem."

One year ago: The White House said President Joe Biden would not block the handover of documents sought by a House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Federal prosecutors announced that they would not file charges against a white police officer who shot a Black man, Jacob Blake, in Wisconsin in August 2020. A federal appeals court allowed the nation's toughest abortion law to go back into effect in Texas; the order came just one day after a lower court sided with the Biden administration and suspended the law. Journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia won the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize for their fight for freedom of expression in countries where reporters faced persistent attacks, harassment and even murder.

Today's Birthdays: Entertainment reporter Rona Barrett is 86. Actor Paul Hogan is 83. R&B singer Fred Cash (The Impressions) is 82. Civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson is 81. Comedian Chevy Chase is 79. Author R.L. Stine is 79. Actor Dale Dye is 78. Country singer Susan Raye is 78. TV personality Sarah Purcell is 74. R&B singer Airrion Love (The Stylistics) is 73. Actor Sigourney Weaver is 73. R&B singer Robert "Kool" Bell (Kool & the Gang) is 72. Producer-director Edward Zwick is 70. Actor Michael Dudikoff is 68. Comedian Darrell Hammond is 67. Actor Stephanie Zimbalist is 66. Actor Kim Wayans is 61. Rock singer Steve Perry (Cherry Poppin' Daddies) is 59. Actor Ian Hart is 58. Gospel/R&B singer CeCe Winans is 58. Rock musician C.J. Ramone (The Ramones) is 57. Actor-producer Karyn Parsons is 56. Singer-producer Teddy Riley is 56. Actor Emily Procter is 54. Actor Dylan Neal is 53. Actor-screenwriter Matt Damon is 52. Actor-comedian Robert Kelly is 52. The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is 52. Actor Martin Henderson is 48. Actor Kristanna Loken is 43. Rock-soul singer-musician Noelle Scaggs (Fitz and the Tantrums) is 43. Actor Nick Cannon is 42. Actor J.R. Ramirez is 42. Actor Max Crumm is 37. Singer-songwriter-producer Bruno Mars is 37. Actor Angus T. Jones is 29. Actor Molly Quinn is 29. Actor/singer Bella Thorne is 25.